Ladies humbled by high-flying Guisborough

Daniel Gregory

It was another bad day at the office for Scarborough Ladies, as leaders Guisborough handed out a 6-0 beating to retain their spot at the top of the pile in the North Riding Women’s League.

On the back of a 5-0 defeat at South Park last week, Boro welcomed back Chloe Bennett, Megan Wingfield, Sam Widdowfield and Hannah Mitchell into the squad.

Ruvimbo Mhaka was out injured, but Beth Hosie and Sophie Ambler had recovered from ankle knocks picked upin the previous game.

Skipper Dani Kendrick slotted in a centre-back and performed admirably alongside Lizzie Sartain. Sasha Woods continued in goal, but there were changes at full-back with Bethan Howitt on the right and Wingfield on the left.

Hannah Mitchell and Hosie sat in the midfield, with regular wingers Chloe Marshall and Beth Taylor giving width and Bennett up top alongside Maria Jagger.

It was Bennett who had the first chance, when she latched onto a free-kick from Kendrick after just two minutes, but screwed her shot wide.

Woods made a sharp save at the other end as Guisborough attacked, and the home side continued to put pressure on which led to the opening goal after 10 minutes.

Boro were rocked after 20 minutes when full-back Howitt was involved in a sickening clash of heads with Guisborough’s number 10, and came out worst with blood streaming from her nose and mouth.

A hospital trip confirmed a broken nose and loose teeth.

With Boro still regrouping, the home side took advantage and slotted in a second goal soon after.

Frustrations grew with Bennett booked for persistent dissent following another offside decision just before half-time.

The second half was largely owned by the home side, as they attacked at regular intervals.

However, at 3-0 down after 55 minutes Beth Taylor sprinted through and was about to pull the trigger when she was shoved to the floor on the edge of the box by the last home defender.